Tom Corbett, Space Cadet

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Television broadcast
Original title Tom Corbett, Space Cadet
Country of production United States
original language English
Year (s) 1950-1955
Production
company		 Rockhill Productions
length 15, 30 minutes
Episodes unknown, at least 58 in 4 seasons
genre Science fiction
Theme music Unknown
Director George Gould , Ralph Ward
idea Unknown
script Jack Winestock , Willie Gilbert , Albert Aley, and others. a.
production Allen Ducovny , Albert Aley
music Hank Silberg
camera Al Sielski
First broadcast October 2nd, 1950 on CBS
occupation
Frankie Thomas in Tom Corbett, Space Cadet (1951)

Tom Corbett, Space Cadet was, after Captain Video and His Video Rangers second science fiction - television series aired in the world and was designed by several American television of 2 October 1950 to 25 June 1955th How many programs were produced in total is not yet known. Technical advisor to the series was Willy Ley .

Production backgrounds

The series was a reproduction of the DuMont production Captain Video and His Video Rangers and, like them, served purely commercial purposes, namely as an advertising medium for companies such as Kellogg's or Kraft . Like its role model, it was broadcast live and recorded using the kinescope method.

The series ran from October 2 to December 29, 1950 on CBS , from January 1, 1951 to September 26, 1952 on ABC , from August 29, 1953 to May 22, 1954 on DuMont, and from December 11, 1954 to aired on June 25, 1955 on NBC .

Tom Corbett is based on the 1948 novel Space Cadets by Robert A. Heinlein and was adapted for television by Joseph Lawrence Greene . Screenwriters were u. a. Albert Aley (9 episodes, 1954–1955), Willie Gilbert (7 episodes, 1951–1955), Jack Weinstock (7 episodes, 1951–1955), George Lowther (2 episodes), Stu Byrnes, Robert A. Heinlein and Art Wallace . The technical advisor was the German scientist Willy Ley . The series takes place in 2352.

Acting characters and their cast

Tom Corbett and Doctor Dale 1951
Tom Corbett Space Cadet Cadets Manning Astro and Strong 1951

Tom Corbett

Tom Corbett (Frankie Thomas) is the Space Academy's most talented cadet, which trains all of Earth's astronauts .

Astro

Cadet Astro (Al Markim) is a Venusian. He is the first alien to appear on a science fiction television series as part of a regular Earth crew.

Roger Manning

Cadet Roger Manning (Jan Merlin) was the casual, unruly counterpart of the disciplined model cadet Tom Corbett.

Captain Strong

Captain Strong (Michael Harvey) is the supervisor of the space cadets at the Space Academy.

Commander Arkwright

Commander Arkwright (Carter Blake) is the commander of the space fleet that the Polaris is under.

The Polaris spaceship

The Polaris, which is flown by the space cadets, resembles outwardly a German V-2 - missile as well as the Galaxy in Captain Video.

Episodes

  • The Gremlin of Space, March 19, 1955
  • The Atomic Curtain, December 11, 1954
  • Astro's Trial, December 18, 1954
  • The Runaway Asteroid, January 1, 1955
  • Suit Up for Death, January 8, 1955
  • Mystery of the Mothball Fleet, January 15, 1955
  • The Life Ray, January 22, 1955
  • A Mighty Mite, January 29, 1955
  • Ace of the Space Lanes, February 5, 1955
  • The Asteroid Station, February 12, 1955
  • The Grapes of Ganymede, February 19, 1955
  • Assignment: Mercury, February 26, 1955
  • The Mystery of the Missing Mail Ship, March 12, 1955
  • Spaceship of Danger, April 2, 1955
  • The Magnetic Asteroid, April 9, 1955
  • Danger in the Asteroid Belt, April 16, 1955
  • False Alert, April 23, 1955
  • The Space Projectile, February 13, 1954
  • The Outpost of Terror, May 7, 1955
  • Exercise for Death, May 14, 1955
  • The Stowaway, May 28, 1955
  • Fight for Survival, June 4, 1955
  • Space Blindess, June 11, 1955
  • Comet of Danger, June 18, 1955
  • The Final Test, June 25, 1955
  • Ambush in Space, May 21, 1955
  • Cargo of Death, January 16, 1954
  • Comet of Death, April 24, 1954
  • Danger in Deep Space, May 6, 1952
  • Death Trap, May 8, 1954
  • Graveyard of the Rockets (unknown)
  • Ice Caves of Pluto, February 21, 1952
  • Rescue in Space, February 27, 1954
  • Space Station of Danger, March 27, 1954
  • Space Week (unknown)
  • Spaceship of Death, December 5, 1953
  • Summer Space Maneuvers (unknown)
  • Target Danger, October 10, 1953
  • The Asteroid of Death (unknown)
  • The Beacon of Danger, November 21, 1953
  • The Earth Digger, March 13, 1954
  • The Ghost Ship, November 7, 1953
  • The Iron Major, January 30, 1954
  • The Lost Colony of Venus (unknown)
  • The Martian Revolt (unknown)
  • The Million Dollar Patrol, August 29, 1953
  • The Mountains of Fire, October 24, 1953
  • The Raiders of the Asteroids, December 19, 1953
  • Terror in Space, March 26, 1955
  • The Mystery of Alkar (unknown)
  • The Outpost of Danger, September 26, 1953
  • The Planet of Doom, January 2, 1954
  • The Runaway Rocket, May 22, 1954
  • The Trojan Planets, September 12, 1953
  • Treachery in Space, April 10, 1954
  • Trial in Space, July 21, 1951

Other media

Books

From 1952 to 1956 Carey Rockwell, advised by Willy Ley, wrote a total of eight books on Tom Corbett, which were published by Grosset & Dunlap:

  • Stand By For Mars (1952)
  • Danger in Deep Space (1953)
  • On the Trail of the Space Pirates (1953)
  • The Space Pioneers (1953)
  • The Revolt on Venus (1954)
  • Treachery in Outer Space (1954)
  • Sabotage in Space (1955)
  • The Robot Rocket (1956)

radio

From January 1 to June 26, 1952, various radio plays by Tom Corbett were broadcast; a number of these programs are offered as free downloads on the Internet.

comics

The companies Dell Comics and Prize Comics published a number of comic adaptations from February 1952 to October 1955.

In 1990 Eternity Comics published three more issues; In 2009 Bluewater Productions started a new edition of the series.

Lore

As with the parallel series Captain Video and His Video Rangers and Space Patrol , only a few episodes recorded with Kinescope have survived.

literature

  • Donald F. Glut / Jim Harmon: The Great Television Heroes, New York 1975.
  • Jean-Noel Bassior: Space Patrol. Missions of Daring in the Name of Television , Jefferson, NC / London 2005.
  • Donald A. Wollheim: Order for the Space Grenadiers ( LAST STAND OF A SPACE GRENADIER ), in: Ders .: How far is it to Babylon? TWO DOZEN DRAGON EGGS. Utopian-technical stories , Munich 1972, pp. 139–147.
  • Tom Corbett, Space Cadet , in: Patrick Lucanio / Gary Coville: American Science Fiction Television Series of the 1950s. Episode Guides and Casts and Credits for Twenty Shows , Jefferson, NC (McFarland & Company, Inc. Publishers) 1998, pp. 212-222. ISBN 0-7864-0434-5

Documentation

  • TV Guide Looks at Science Fiction . Video documentation from 1997 by William Shatner with excerpts from Tom Corbett and interview excerpts with Frankie Thomas.

See also

Web links